From multi-team journeyman to one of the heroes of the online era, Casper “cadiaN” Møller’s seen it all in his career. Prior to the pandemic, his career was only known to be subpar at best especially considering the achievements of those around him. But with the unlikeliest of circumstances came a second life for cadiaN and now, he’s referred to as one of the best in-game leaders in Counter-Strike since the turn of the decade. After being benched from Liquid’s main team, it now begs the question — what does he still have to offer?
What went wrong at Team Liquid?
Since his removal, there’s been a lot going on
Before going into what exactly teams can get by having cadiaN, it’s important to explore his most recent venture with Liquid, which did not go the way anyone thought it would.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s simply impossible to pin the blame of a team’s failure down to a single person. Sure, it’s easy to look at the designated shotcaller and criticize them, but one person does not define a lineup. It’s the system they have in place.
In an interview with Pley.gg, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken shared that his experiences with cadiaN on Liquid and Finn “karrigan” Andersen on FaZe were different, but did not go into further detail on the subject matter. The Canadian rifler also mentioned the lack of work ethic and chemistry within the team during cadiaN’s time, citing them as major factors for their lack of success.
Former Liquid coach Wilton “zews” Prado also offered his own take into the situation with his own interview with HLTV, describing the differences between cadiaN’s place within Heroic and Liquid. During the Dane’s eventful time with Heroic, he was seen as a veteran figure amongst many unproven and inexperienced talents. This allowed him to take a more commanding role and impart his own way of playing the game, which resulted in a handful of international tournament victories. With Liquid, however, cadiaN was entering a team with a lot more experience and winning pedigree to their name. This resulted in more differing opinions within the squad compared to his time with Heroic, with adaptability to the new system also being considered as a factor.
But even with that, the whole Liquid stint was still cadiaN’s first outside of the Heroic legacy he had built for many years. It’s clear that he has a lot to offer in the professional scene, so now it’s time to dive into what exactly those are.
cadiaN’s presence is his biggest strength
Let’s get the biggest intangible straight out of the way — cadiaN’s presence is one of his greatest strengths, especially when assuming the role of in-game leader and, alongside that, primary AWPer of a team. During his time with Heroic, where most people became truly familiar with his game, the 29-year-old became well-known for his humorous antics and expressive demeanor during matches. After pulling off an important round victory or clutch play, it’s impossible to deny the aura cadiaN exudes to the fans and, more importantly, his teammates.
He is a well-known leader both in terms of shot-calling and his status as a tenured veteran of the game. Leading Heroic to the IEM Rio Major grand final in 2022, an iconic victory at ESL Pro League Season 13, and two BLAST Premier Final championships, cadiaN’s resume since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is stacked. He is not immune to tilt, as is anyone, but more often than not he greets even the most lopsided of situations with a smile on his face, and it’s clear that his teammates thrive off it. Hated, adored, but never ignored.
Next is his role as a dual-position player, fulfilling his spot on the team as both an IGL and an AWPer. One of the classic CS pro archetypes with players such as Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo in the game’s early days and Nikolai “device” Reedtz finding himself in the same spot for Astralis’ recent resurgence, it’s no surprise what kind of value having any player that can do both at the same time brings.
Of course, the common stereotype with these kinds of players historically has been that their production fragging-wise tends to fall behind what they are able to do as the primary shot-caller. cadiaN is admittedly not in the elite status of snipers, but that doesn’t mean what he does on the server is instantly unimpactful.
The following graphics created by Harry “NERO” Richards show a player’s profile from 2023, highlighting their key statistics. When you compare cadiaN to someone like Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, one of the very best CS players in the world and a teenager just entering the prime of his life, the gap seems astronomical in terms of pretty much everything on the board. Simply put, m0NESY is far better at the moment. And it should be that way. Now, let’s compare cadiaN’s stats with Fallen, another fellow AWPer-IGL with a lot of years under his belt.
Now, FalleN is far from the prime of his career, but neither is cadiaN at this point in time. This is a fair comparison to make given the current status of both players regarding their fragging output. Both are pretty much even in terms of trades, but manage to one-up each other in different categories. FalleN performs slightly better when measuring rifle/non-rifle KPR, multi-kill rounds, and overall aggression, but cadiaN is superior in clutch situations and utility usage leading to frags. Not world-beating numbers in any regard, but not terrible either.
Both of these players command a lot of respect both in the dressing room and on the stage, which shows that sometimes numbers don’t quite tell the full story.
Finally, it really goes without saying that cadiaN brings nearly unparalleled leadership to the game. He’s been a professional for the last 12 years of his life, bringing all kinds of lessons and triumphs through the rollercoaster ride of life. This is becoming a rarity in the scene as most of the old guard, especially those who were there from the very beginning of Global Offensive, are closing the book on their competitive careers, with many more expected to follow suit in the near future. This makes cadiaN a valuable commodity for any team looking to secure an in-game leader with a winning pedigree and numerous years of dedication to Counter-Strike.
He was counted out once, yet he came back from it and shattered all expectations. Who’s to say he won’t do that again?